Andean Dreams: Belated Greetings!

Hello Everyone!

I know I have not written in quite awhile, and so of course there is even more than ever to update about, but I will just give y’all a sweeping summary, and then am committed to more regular updates in the coming months. Since I last wrote I have been all over the place and back again. I have had three lovely visitors: Catherine, Ben, and Julie. I went to the 12^th Encuentro Feminista Latinoamericano y del Caribe in Bogotá, Colombia, where I spent my birthday and Thanksgiving. I spent almost a month in government ministry offices trying to get my visa paperwork sorted out. I also went home to California for 2 brief weeks, and stopped off in Chile for my cousin’s wedding on my way back to Ecuador.

Now I am back here. And starting a whole new chapter of my time in Ecuador. The past months I have been splitting my time between the capital city of Quito and a small village about three hours away (La Calera). I have come to know that bus ride very well! In Quito I have been primarily devoting my time to a course in Kichwa language and culture at FLACSO (university), through the anthropology department. I also have found some mentors--a radical retired UCC missionary couple that has lived in Ecuador for over 50 years. Once a week I had been going over to their house for an hour of intentional reflection time, and then a shared lunch where the conversation always continued, sometimes for a couple of hours! I also have participated in two 20-hour trainings through the Quaker-based Alternatives to Violence Project. I have now completed the basic and advanced trainings, and will be participating in the facilitator's training in February, with the hope to facilitate trainings in the village. In the village I have been living with an Indigenous family and getting to know the community as much as possible. I have been meeting with the leaders in the local area who work in the areas of community development, broadly speaking. I have also been able to observe and participate in many workshops, lectures, and religious festivals that have been very helpful for my research.

Now that I am back in Ecuador, I have moved full-time to the village. I am hoping to put my fledgling Kichwa to work a bit, and have actually just begun another introductory course in Kichwa at the nearby University of Otavalo. I have begun participating in a women's organization in a nearby town where I will be doing my sustained research and interviews. I also have brainstormed lots of other projects with my friends in the village, and look forward to putting those into practice.

The primary challenge so far in my experience is implicit in what I have already described: not spending as much time in La Calera as I had originally hoped, and therefore not having the kind of sustained fieldwork that I had planned to have already at this point. This is primarily because of my decision to take the Kichwa class in Quito and because I had a very long and frustrating process with waiting for the university to process the paperwork for my affiliation as a researcher, and thus the needed documentation for my visa. In total, I spent multiple weeks stuck in Quito just trying to wade through that process. Thankfully, that is now resolved! Overall, I have been really pleased with my past 3 months, and grateful! I loved living in Quito, and all the really great friends who I met there. However, I am really looking forward to more sustained living in La Calera for the duration of my time in Ecuador. As I adjust to a new pace of life here in this smaller community, I am designating one day per week to be devoted entirely to writing and reading, so I hope to send out shorter and more frequent updates about my research and life adventures.

As for all the adventures I have missed out on writing to y’all about, I know some of you have heard about them from me, and others will have to wait for in-person story-telling. In the meantime, I hope this smattering of photos helps fill in the gaps!

With ongoing gratitude for your support and kindness,

Tiffany